


Always You

by the_me09



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluffuary, M/M, No Smut, Protective Tony Stark, Soft Quentin Beck, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-01
Updated: 2021-02-01
Packaged: 2021-03-12 07:29:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,677
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29131845
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_me09/pseuds/the_me09
Summary: Quentin’s soul mark doesn’t appear until he’s fourteen years old. He was worried he wouldn’t get one, that somehow, he’d be the only person in the world without an other half. But when it appears, he hates it.It’s ugly.In the middle of his chest, is a bold, dark spider.
Relationships: Quentin Beck/Peter Parker
Comments: 7
Kudos: 61
Collections: Fluffuary 2021, Fluffuary 2021 - the_me09





	Always You

Quentin’s soul mark doesn’t appear until he’s fourteen years old. He was worried he wouldn’t get one, that somehow, he’d be the only person in the world without an other half. But when it appears, he hates it. 

It’s ugly. 

In the middle of his chest, is a bold, dark spider. 

Other people have moons, colorful fish, a word, an intricate design, celtic knots, birds, lyrics, book titles, so many different ways the soul marks can manifest. 

And Quentin gets a spider. 

It takes him another few years to realize that it appeared because his soul mate had just been born. So he has a spidery soul mate fourteen years younger than him. Quentin despairs of ever finding that person. They won’t share any of the same experiences. 

The older Quentin gets, the less he wants to find his soul mate. Fourteen years younger than him? That’s so gross. He goes to college, and when people ask about his soul mark, he says he’s not looking. It’s so antiquated anyway, like the universe just gets to decide who they’re supposed to end up with? The edgy and angry agree with him, sleep with him, move in with him, and then move right back out when they meet the person their mark matches. It happens again and again, they tell Quentin he’s wrong, it’s not like they imagined. They really have a soul mate, a person that is their equal, a partner to move through life with. 

Quentin is never that partner. 

He graduates college, moves to New York, gets a job at Stark Industries. He keeps his head down, focuses on his work. Promotion after promotion is offered to him, until he’s twenty-eight and working on a top-secret project with Tony Stark. 

Stark, of course, has two soul marks. As if Tony Stark needs more reason to be special. Two marks isn’t unheard of, but it’s not common. Quentin finds himself studying the air force symbol on Tony’s bicep while they work on a tech update to his projector. They’re almost ready to debut. 

“I have a pepper grinder on my side, thought it was a bishop for the longest time,” Tony says, catching Quentin staring. “You found your soul mate yet?” 

Quentin starts, looking away, embarrassed at being caught. He doesn’t care about finding his soul mate. He cares about rivaling Tony in his tech brilliance. 

“No,” Quentin says curtly. 

“What’s your mark?” Tony jerks his head toward Quentin. It’s kind of rude to ask about someone’s soul mark. 

Quentin sits back from the computer. “It’s a spider.” He doesn’t want to be having this conversation with Tony Stark. 

Tony hums thoughtfully. “Does it have a black widow mark? Maybe I could introduce you to Natasha. Not sure what her mark is, but hey, it can’t hurt.”

Yeah, right, as if his soul mate is the Black Widow. “Thanks, but I don’t think that’s right. It’s- it’s in the middle of my chest, this big ugly symbol, like a spider emoji.” Quentin knows he’s said too much when Tony’s eyes soften. He shouldn’t have called it ugly, that always makes people either feel sorry for him, or try to make him see it as anything other than ugly. 

Months pass, he’s almost fired for losing his shit on Tony. Ugh, naming his life’s work BARF? Honestly. But Tony agreed to rename the project. Only after Quentin was put on leave for a month. They said he was unstable, stressing himself out over the project. He thinks Tony feels sorry for him, that he is untethered because he doesn’t have his soul mate. That doesn’t matter to him, and the sooner people drop it, the better. 

He’s finally reinstated, full time, in office, in the fall. He’ll be twenty-nine in December and with his thirties looming, he’s starting to feel… not lonely… but maybe a little left out. All his college friends are married, having their first kids. It’s not even that he wants that life, it’s just that it feels like they’ve all moved into a different stage of life, and Quentin’s left behind. It’s just more bullshit about this soulmate stuff. 

Quentin heads up to Tony’s lab to talk about updates. There’s a young kid in the office, talking a mile a minute. Probably some intern, star-struck at meeting Iron Man. Quentin rolls his eyes and heads toward the voices. 

“Alright, try it on, kid,” Tony says with a laugh. 

Quentin sees them across the lab, the kid is in some blue and red spandex thing. A new superhero, as if they need another one. And isn’t the kid a little young? SHIELD really has no compunctions. 

The kid turns toward Quentin, still babbling about the fit, or upgrades, or something, when Quentin catches sight of the symbol on the front of the suit. He freezes, his heart leaping into his throat. In the middle of this kid’s chest is  _ his  _ soul mark. That big, dark, ugly spider. Did Tony design that on purpose? Is this some kind of joke? But Tony never saw his soul mark, couldn’t know the exact dimensions or blocky art deco way it’s designed. Quentin does some mental math, and the kid is probably around the right age, fourteen/fifteen area. 

“Oh shit,” The kid says, noticing him and pulling on a mask. “Uh, hey, I’m Spider-Man.” He says, deepening his voice. 

Quentin is rooted to the spot. 

Tony tilts his head, opens his mouth to say something, and then his eyes widen. “No,” he says in shock. Tony must have put it together from Quentin’s reaction, shit, he needs to be cool. It doesn’t matter anyway, right? He wasn’t looking, he doesn’t care. 

The kid, Spider-Man, looks back and forth between them. “Uh, what’s going on?” His voice has gone back to it’s normal, higher pitched tone. 

Quentin has the strongest urge to see Spider-Man’s soul mark. He’s always sort of wondered what his manifestation would be on his soul mate. 

“He’s just a kid,” Tony says, annoyed. 

“Seriously, what?”

Quentin swallows, not sure what to do. It’s not like people said, he doesn’t feel like a scene in a movie, like they immediately recognize each other. The world doesn’t fall away. He’s very aware of Tony glaring at him. He’s tempted to not say anything, let the kid leave without telling Quentin his name. 

“My name’s Quentin,” he says, clearing his throat. “Nice to meet you, Spider-Man.” Something does make him feel like the world is spinning, like he can’t let his soul mate leave without knowing, even if he is young, even if he is some sort of superhero. 

Quentin flips his tie over his shoulder and starts unbuttoning his shirt. Tony makes a disgusted noise and shakes his head, but does nothing to stop him. 

“Uhhhh,” Spider-Man says, stepping closer to Tony. 

Quentin opens his shirt to show off the dark spider symbol that perfectly mirrors the one on Peter’s suit. 

The masks eyes widen. “No way,” he says in awe. 

The kid tugs his mask off, and Quentin gets a good look at his face. Curling fluffy brown hair, wide brown eyes, strong jaw, thin lips. He’s cute, his jaw will probably fill out a little more as he gets older, he’s still got some baby fat to his cheeks. Against his will, Quentin finds himself enchanted. This is his soul mate. Finally. 

“My real name is Peter,” he says quietly, taking a step closer, and then another, until he’s directly in front of Quentin. He reaches out a hand, hesitates in front of Quentin’s chest. “Can I?” 

Quentin nods, feeling a little sick with nerves. What does his hair look like? Did he shave this morning? His soul mate is here, and young, and Stark’s intern? Quentin’s mind feels like it’s running a million miles a minute. 

Peter’s fingers brush over his mark and they both gasp at the contact. 

“This is insane!” Peter bursts out, grinning. “Oh my god, I can’t believe- I thought it would take years, holy crap! You’re my soul mate! Do you like Star Wars? Have you played Beast Slayer? What’s your favorite food? Music? I want to know everything, oh my god.” Peter talks so fast he trips over his words. “Ned is so not going to believe this! Are you super powered too? And you work for Mr. Stark, so you must be crazy smart!” 

Quentin huffs a surprised laugh. “One thing at a time!” Peter is endearingly excited. Quentin finds himself thawing, softening, wanting to get to know Peter in return. Would it really be so bad to get to know him? It doesn’t mean Quentin is bound by this soul mate thing. 

“You’re not going to ask how old he is?” Tony interrupts. 

Peter looks back at Tony, startled. “Does it matter?” 

“Kind of? You shouldn’t exactly be dating at your age,” Tony says. “He’s a full grown adult.” 

“Afraid I’ll pressure him into something he’s not ready for?” Quentin raises an eyebrow. Peter’s cheeks flush with embarrassment. 

“Mr. Stark, I don’t think- I mean- I can make my own decisions,” Peter stutters out. He’s trying to sound authoritative. It’s infuriatingly adorable. Quentin finds he can’t take his eyes off Peter. “Can we… I mean… can we get to know each other?” Peter asks shyly. 

“You’re busy, don’t you have rounds to do, Spider-Man?” Tony says, raising an eyebrow. Peter swallows and bobs his head. 

“Oh, yeah, right, I should-” he jerks his thumb toward the door but doesn’t move. Quentin can’t just let him go without a way to contact him. 

“Give me your phone,” he says, holding out his hand. Peter doesn’t even hesitate, practically shoving his phone into Quentin’s hand. He puts his number in and hands it back. “Ball’s in your court, Peter. No pressure, we can just text if you want.” Quentin says, but he’s looking at Tony as he says it.

Peter beams and nods. 

When he leaves, the blowout is truly epic. And Stark said Quentin was unstable? He lays into Quentin for trying to groom a child, even though he’s done no such thing. Quentin calls him a jealous old man, which goes over really well. Just because Stark has two soul mates doesn’t mean he can keep everyone he sets his sights on. That gets him even more riled up, but seriously, Peter is  _ Quentin’s  _ soul mate. Tony has nothing to do with it. 

~*~

It takes an hour for Peter to text. 

They become embroiled in conversation and Peter is funny, nerdy, keeps up with Quentin’s sarcasm and gives sass of his own. Two weeks of non-stop texting leads to long, late-night phone calls, which leads to Peter coming over to Quentin’s apartment after he finishes his rounds as Spider-Man. They stay up late watching movies and talking about anything and everything. Peter shows Quentin his web fluid and shooters, while Quentin shows off his projectors, the neural interface, all the things he’s been creating for Tony. Peter is appropriately awed. 

They’re sitting on the couch, Quentin’s arm over Peter’s shoulder as they watch some mindless action flick when Peter turns to him, tips his head up, and plants a kiss on his lips. Peter jerks back immediately, he’s painfully awkward, apologetic. Quentin has never felt this level of comfort, this level of chemistry, synchronicity. He cups Peter’s jaw, strokes his thumb over Peter’s cheek, and slots their mouths together, kissing Peter slow and tender, teaching him how to open his mouth just right, how to tease with his tongue, how to bite just enough to feel good. They make-out until Quentin’s head is spinning, until Peter’s mouth is red and bruised looking. 

It doesn’t go further than kissing. Even though Peter has turned sixteen, Quentin’s not really into flirting with jail time. There’s something exciting about waiting, building the anticipation. That doesn’t mean Peter won’t try, doesn’t mean they haven’t gotten each other’s shirts off before. 

Peter’s soul mark makes no sense. It’s on his shoulder, an upside down triangle, with a strange egyptian looking eye in the middle. Quentin has never worn anything like that. It makes him second guess what he knows, makes him doubt that Peter is his soul mate. He doesn’t tell Peter that, but he pulls back. Peter must be able to tell because when they do see each other he’s sad, muted, unsure. 

Then… the world crumbles. People turn to ash in front of Quentin’s face, disappear into nothingness. He’s at work when it happens, people screaming, the smell of ash filling the lab, piles on the floor that used to be human. Quentin vomits in the trash can. His first thought is of Peter, his soul mate, who is probably in the thick of whatever is happening. He always throws himself into danger. 

He tries to call Peter, but it goes to voicemail. Quentin stumbles home, dazed, horrified, trying to ignore the chaos around him. He calls Peter again, and again, and there’s nothing. He watches the news with red-rimmed eyes. No one knows what’s going on. 

And in the morning Quentin’s soul mark is gone. Like it never existed. 

Quentin’s never known pain like that, like staring in the mirror and seeing his unblemished chest because his soul mate no longer exists. He never thought he’d miss that spider, but every day Quentin continues to exist without it, he misses it more, misses the person it symbolized. 

One day, after almost a year, Quentin’s despair gives way to anger. This is Tony’s fault. Tony fucking Stark. He pulled Peter into his crazy superhero world, took him to space, and then let him die. 

Quentin creates something to make Tony pay, a hero that will save the world from Iron Man. He gathers an entire team of people who blame Tony, hate Tony, and together they use his illusions to create threats that Mysterio can fight. He’ll become beloved, well known, and then he’ll turn the tide against Tony, make everyone see how this is his fault. Because they don’t, they all lost so much, and still no one blames Iron Man even though he said he would protect them. 

Mysterio has armor, a cape, he’ll be a combination of Thor, Iron Man, and Doctor Strange. He’ll do magic because that’s easy to design, easier than something like strength he’d have to explain away. 

When he stands in his armor for the first time, his eyes catch on the clasps for his cape. A triangle. With an eye. His vision blurs at the memory of kissing Peter’s shoulders, tracing the image and having no idea what it stood for. Now he knows. This was always his destiny. 

His team manages to get through a few illusions, they start building enmity against Stark. 

And then in a snap, everyone is back. It’s sudden enough to give a person whiplash. People standing on the street, standing in cafes, confused, staring around them at a changed world. Quentin’s breath hitches and he deactivates the illusion, pulling open his shirt like a crazy person, or superman. 

On his chest, where it was always meant to be, is a blocky, ugly spider. Quentin chokes on a sob. Peter exists, he’s miraculously back. 

It takes days for the world to sort itself out, to go through another upheaval. Quentin can’t get ahold of Peter, but he sees the news, knows that Peter must be reeling. Tony Stark, dead. Leaving behind two soul mates, a child. Quentin feels the barest twinge of pity before shoving it away. 

Peter shows up at his apartment, still in a funeral suit. He flings himself into Quentin’s waiting arms, and they cry on each other, clinging. Their kisses are messy and desperate and Quentin never wants to stop. They sleep in the same bed for the first time, curled around each other. And in the morning light, even though Peter’s eyes are swollen from crying, and his nose is red, Quentin wouldn’t want to wake to any other view. 


End file.
